Бургерная Rudy из Торонто открыла новые филиалы в Лондоне и Сент-Томасе

Booming Toronto-based burger joint Rudy expands into London, St. Thomas Rudy, a Toronto-based burger shop that opened in 2016, has been steadily expanding into Southwestern Ontario this year, with a restaurant at London’s White Oaks Mall and another set to open in St. Thomas on Sept. 11 at 985 Talbot St. Luke McCann, owner of the growing chain, spoke with LFP’s Ryan Goodison on their recipe for success. Q: For those who might not know you, what is Rudy and how did it start? A: A buddy of mine and I started it over 10 years ago in Little Italy on College Street in Toronto, and it was a very simple concept. We were both burger fans growing up, and did a lot of travelling trying to figure out what we wanted to do. But the idea was basically just a simple griddle burger. I remember my mom making them in the frying pan when I was a kid, and then the idea was to keep the menu very simple. It’s a scratch kitchen, so everything is made in house. Q: Where does the name come from? A: Rudy comes from when my former late business partner and I were kids. You go to a party or something like that, and somebody’s acting a little out of hand or obnoxious or a little full of themselves. We would quietly say that guy’s being a “rudy,” he’s being rude. It’s sort of just an inside joke that we had when were kids. Q: You’re now expanding into St. Thomas, what made it the next step for you? A: We went down and we looked around, we spoke to a lot of places, businesses in the area, and they all seemed to be doing really well, and it was a growing area of the province. We found an amazing location on Talbot with great signage, and it’s a standalone. It reminded us of our place on the Queensway in Toronto. So when you find a special location like that, it’s hard to pass up. Q: You recently expanded into London in January, what made the city the right place for you? - New cafe brings taste of family's Colombia coffee farm to downtown London - Make it 70 years (and counting) for landmark London diner - Advertisement 1Story continues below A: London is a big city outside of Toronto and when you head in that direction you can see it’s growing. You’ve got colleges, universities, and it’s a big population, so we figured it just made sense. I’ve also got some friends that lived down there that would always message and say “Hey, when are you going to open up in London?” It had been on the radar for a while. Q: Why was the location at White Oaks Mall the right fit? A: We just sort of liked that area. It’s right off the highway, and I think the mall is under construction right now as well as the road construction. We feel that once all that’s done, it’s going to be booming. You have the Ronaldo soccer Footlab and the Ikea going into the same mall, so it just seemed like a good fit for us. Q: The St. Thomas location will be your 19th across the province, what do you think is behind the success so far? A: What we aim for is a very simple menu, simple food done right, and that’s what we do. We’re not as fast as McDonald’s, but we think it’s worth it. I think what really has helped us expand is attracting the right people to come work with us. If you have great people, you can do great things. Q: Are you planning any further expansions into Southwestern Ontario? A: This is a far southwest as we have on the books right now, but we’d like to get eventually to Windsor, and maybe Sarnia. Q: If you could recommend one thing on the menu, what would it be? A: My go-to is the double cheeseburger, which is called the Rude Dude. I usually get a side of our thin fries that we cook in beef tallow, and that’s another thing we do a little different from most places, although it is becoming more popular again. [email protected]